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trail

 - 6 dictionary results
San Diego Trail Race
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SunStrides.org/TrailRunSeries
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trail

  [treyl]
Use trail in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to drag or let drag along the ground or other surface; draw or drag along behind.
2. to bring or have floating after itself or oneself: a racing car trailing clouds of dust.
3. to follow the track, trail, or scent of; track.
4. to follow along behind (another), as in a race.
5. to mark out, as a track.
6. to tread down or make a path through (grass or the like).
7. to draw out, as speech; protract.
8. Ceramics. to pour (slip) on a biscuit so as to produce a pattern.
–verb (used without object)
9. to be drawn or dragged along the ground or some other surface, as when hanging from something moving: Her long bridal gown trailed across the floor.
10. to hang down loosely from something.
11. to stream from or float after something moving, as dust, smoke, and sparks do.
12. to follow as if drawn along.
13. to fish by trailing a line from a moving boat; troll.
14. to go slowly, lazily, or wearily along.
15. to pass or extend in a straggling line.
16. to change gradually or wander from a course, so as to become weak, ineffectual, etc. (usually fol. by off or away): Her voice trailed off into silence.
17. to arrive or be last: He finally trailed in at 10 o'clock.
18. to be losing in a contest: The home team was trailing 20 to 15.
19. to creep or crawl, as a serpent.
20. to follow a track or scent, as of game.
21. (of a plant) to extend itself in growth along the ground rather than taking root or clinging by tendrils, etc.
–noun
22. a path or track made across a wild region, over rough country, or the like, by the passage of people or animals.
23. the track, scent, or the like, left by an animal, person, or thing, esp. as followed by a hunter, hound, or other pursuer.
24. something that is trailed or that trails behind, as the train of a skirt or robe.
25. a stream of dust, smoke, light, people, vehicles, etc., behind something moving.
26. Artillery. the part of a gun carriage that rests on the ground when the piece is unlimbered.
27. Architecture. a running vine, leaf, or tendril ornament, as in a Gothic molding.
—Idiom
28. trail arms, Military.
a. to hold a rifle in the right hand at an oblique angle, with the muzzle forward and the butt a few inches off the ground.
b. a command to trail arms.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME trailen to draw or drag in the rear; cf. OE træglian to tear off; c. MD traghelen to drag; akin to Latvian dragât to tear off, drag

Related forms:
trail⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
trailless, adjective

Synonyms:
3. trace, hunt. 16. diminish, shrink, dwindle. 22. See path. 23. spoor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To trail
San Diego Trail Race
All dirt race series in San Diego Winter & spring 2010
SunStrides.org/TrailRunSeries
Find cheap Trail now
Looking for Trail on sale? Check 6.500 shops for great prices!
www.trail.best-price.com
trail   (trāl)   
v.   trailed, trail·ing, trails

v.   tr.

  1. To allow to drag or stream behind, as along the ground: The dog ran off, trailing its leash.

  2. To drag (the body, for example) wearily or heavily.

    1. To follow the traces or scent of, as in hunting; track.

    2. To follow the course taken by; pursue: trail a fugitive.

  4. To follow behind: several cruisers trailed by an escorting destroyer.

  5. To lag behind (an opponent): trailed the league leader by four games.

v.   intr.

  1. To drag or be dragged along, brushing the ground: The queen's long robe trailed behind.

  2. To extend, grow, or droop loosely over a surface: vines trailing through the garden.

  3. To drift in a thin stream: smoke trailing from a dying fire.

  4. To become gradually fainter; dwindle: His voice trailed off in confusion.

  5. To walk or proceed with dragging steps; trudge.

  6. To be behind in competition; lag: trailing by two goals in the second period.

n.  

    1. A marked or beaten path, as through woods or wilderness.

    2. An overland route: the pioneers' trail across the prairies.

    3. A mark, trace, course, or path left by a moving body.

    4. The scent of a person or animal: The dogs lost the trail of the fox.

    1. A mark, trace, course, or path left by a moving body.

    2. The scent of a person or animal: The dogs lost the trail of the fox.

  3. Something that is drawn along or follows behind; a train: The mayor was followed by a trail of reporters.

  4. A succession of things that come afterward or are left behind: left a trail of broken promises.

  5. Something that hangs loose and long: Trails of ticker tape floated down from office windows.

  6. The part of a gun carriage that rests or slides on the ground.

  7. The act of trailing.


[Middle English trailen, probably from Old French trailler, to hunt without a foreknown course, from Vulgar Latin *trāgulāre, to make a deer double back and forth, perhaps alteration (influenced by Latin trāgula, dragnet) of Latin trahere, to pull, draw.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

trail  (v.)
c.1303, "to drag along behind," from O.Fr. trailler "to tow," ult. from V.L. *tragulare "to drag," from L. tragula "dragnet," probably related to trahere "to pull" (see tract (1)). The meaning "follow the trail of" is first recorded 1590.

trail  (n.)
c.1300, "train of a robe," from the source of trail (v.). The meaning "track or smell left by a person or animal" is also from 1590. Meaning "path or track worn in wilderness" is attested from 1807.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

trail

see blaze a trail.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

Trail

city, southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It lies along the Columbia River at the mouth of Trail Creek, adjacent to Rossland, in the Selkirk Mountains, and just north of the U.S.-Canada border and the state of Washington

Learn more about Trail with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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